Of Mortals and Gods
by Marwana
Summary: Loki's actions against Jotunheim and Earth were nothing more than a temper tantrum thrown by a panicked immortal. Why should it be seen as anything else? Or: when the Avengers discovered the difference between a god and a mortal.


_There are a lot of stories in which Loki is brought back to Asgard only to be tortured/ killed/ redeemed/ etcetera. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy those stories from time to time but isn't it a bit odd?  
__I mean: Thor kills I don't know how many frostgiants and he is banished temporarily to earth. Loki kills 80 humans and he gets sentenced to death?  
__Anyway: this is my view on it when one combines Marvels' Thor/ Avengers with the Norse myths._

_This is not an attempt to discredit those stories mentioned above..._

_Something before reading_**_: _**_Odin is known in the Norse myths as 'the Oathbreaker' due to the fact that he had sworn to protect mankind against any threat but still gives away 'favours' to humans. In this case the favour is berserker rage which turns a person into a berserker (a person who kills a lot of people)... this is a bit crudely put but I hope it's clear what I'm trying to say: Odin has killed more people when he hands out the berserker rage than Loki had during the Avengers..._

_**Summary:**_ _Loki's actions against Jotunheim and Earth were nothing more than a temper tantrum thrown by a panicked immortal. Why should it be seen as anything else? Or: when the Avengers discovered the difference between a god and a mortal._

_**Warnings: **none for this chapter._

_**Disclaimer**: I do not own the rights to the Avengers._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Thor stared at the mortals in front of him in confusion. He had just told the Avengers and Nick Fury that Loki was once again free to do what he wanted to do and he couldn't understand the reaction of those in front of him.

"Why is he free?" the son of Barton demanded to know.  
"Why shouldn't he?" Thor asked flabbergasted, "he was punished for his crimes. Isn't it normal to be freed after one has finished their punishment?"  
"I believe," Loki drawled from next to him, "that they are surprised that I'm freed after such a short time."  
"Right you are, Reindeer games," the man of iron commented with a snort as he downed his drink in a single gulp.  
Loki just raised an elegant eyebrow at him in reaction.

"So all he got was a slap on the wrist?" the Hawkeyed archer asked bitterly.  
"Of course not," Thor boomed, "he was banished to his chambers for his tantrum."

And that was what it had been: a temper tantrum called forth when Loki had panicked because of the fact that he had discovered just _what_ he was. His subsequent fall of the Bifrost hadn't helped with his already unstable state of mind either.  
But Loki had calmed down in the year he had been grounded and he had accepted the fact that he was not Æsir but jötunn. He had also accepted them back as family after long, heavy talks and he had apologized for his behaviour.

And now he was once again the regal, genius, mischievous trickster of a sorcerer he had always been honoured to call his brother.

"You _sent_ him to his chambers like a _naughty_ _child_?" Fury almost growled, "you promised us that he would be punished!"  
"And he was," Thor said with a slow blink of his eyes. He truly did not understand them.

They were _Gods_. Killing a few people every now and then was _normal_ for them. By the Nine, _he himself_ had killed more people in a single temper tantrum when he had been a _child_ than Loki had in his long life. And Loki wasn't weaker than he was no matter what the others thought.

They were just like fire and ice, though ice and thunder – or fire and thunder – was more appropriate.  
Loki had always been the thinker. He was sly, cunning, sneaky and smart – scarily so. He was a strategist and a sorcerer who preferred to plan everything and who liked to be seen as weak. But he – as the God of Chaos and Mischief and Fire and Air and Lies – was everything but weak.  
Thor on the other hand was more of a doer. He acted before he considered the consequences of his actions and he was the poster boy of a male Asgardian: loud, boisterous and in love with battle, violence, women and food.

And the difference was visible in everything. Thor was blond haired and blue eyed, Loki was black haired and green eyed. Thor preferred to wear armour and weapons, Loki preferred to wear loose tunics and breeches. Thor preferred to spend his time fighting and training, Loki preferred to spend his time studying and practicing magic.

And for gods the death of 80 people in two days was not that large a number and humans were known to breed like rabbits anyway; fast and often.  
Even his father was known for killing more humans when he provided those who prayed to him with the berserker rage than Loki had done during his little temper tantrum.

To state that Loki needed to be punished more heavily than getting locked away in his rooms with his magic bound and his books taken away for an Asgardian year was _odd_ and did not fit the crime.

"I'll _not_ have him running around free," Fury spat out angrily, "not after all he has done."  
And suddenly weapons were drawn and pointed towards his younger brother. Everyone except for Banner had taken whatever weapon they felt comfortable with and _pointed them towards his brother_.  
Thor opened his mouth to protest but Loki, unarmed, unarmoured Loki – though that didn't mean much when one was a sorcerer – was faster.

"You cannot stop me," Loki said silkily, "you handed me over to Asgardian judgement and agreed to let my father decide what he wanted to do with me. To go against that now would mean that you would go back on your word. And you wouldn't want to do that, now would you?"

"I don't care," Barton said through gritted teeth as he drew the string of his bow even tauter, "you deserve to die."  
Thor and Loki shared glances before they both burst out in laughter, though neither was overly amused. Loki's laughter was mocking and almost cruel while his own was filled with suppressed disdain.  
"I've said it before: I'm a god," Loki drawled smoothly, "how would you ever plan to kill a god?"

"We still have the Hulk," the captain pointed out as he inclined his head towards the mentioned man.  
Loki just shrugged elegantly in response as he made his way over towards the window to stand regally in front of it so he could watch the mortals outside, his arms crossed behind his back.

Barton finally seemed to have enough because he released the taut bowstring. The arrow flew with a high speed towards Loki's undefended back but Thor wasn't worried.  
Loki was still one of the greatest sorcerers Asgard had ever seen and he was quite capable of defending himself.

And just like he had expected just for the arrow could hit his brother it burst into flames and turned to ashes.  
Barton growled in annoyance before he took another arrow, nocked it and fired it but it once again burned to ashes before it could reach Loki.  
But Barton just fired another arrow.  
"I tire of this," Loki said with just the slightest hint of annoyance before he turned around, caught the arrow in mid-air and threw it to the side where it struck the wall – and remained stuck into said wall – with a thud.

"We decided to inform you of my release out of courtesy," Loki told them, "nothing more and nothing less. You can do whatever you want with this information but any attempt to capture me will be seen as a declaration of war against Asgard and her allies."  
"So we just have to let you go?" Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow, "after all you have done to Earth?"  
"Take it however you want to," Loki said with a shrug, "now, if you don't mind I believe Thor wanted to see his maiden and I want to visit someone dear to me."

And with a polite nod to them all he started to move towards his brother.  
"You are not going anywhere," Fury said before he ordered, "grab him."  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Thor warned loudly.  
"Is that a threat?" Fury demanded to know as he narrowed his eyes on him.  
"No, a warning," Loki said as he dodged away from Ironman's attempt to grab him. Thor was about to interfere but a raised hand of his brother stopped him.

After a couple of attempts the maiden known as Black Widow finally managed to lay a hand on his brother – and he was quite sure that his brother had let her touch him on purpose – but she released him quickly with a surprised hiss of pain. Her hand was red and covered in some nasty burn wounds.

"What is this?" Barton wanted to know as he rushed to her side.  
"I'm jötunn," Loki said with a shrug as he dusted his clothing – a green tunic and black breeches – of, "my skin burns everyone who tries to touch it if I will it."

"I believe we were leaving," Loki said as he raised his hand towards him, "Thor?"  
Thor moved towards him and grabbed him by his arm.  
"It was a pleasure to see all of you again," Loki told them with a small bow – which was slightly hindered by the hand on his arm but still executed elegantly in a way he had never been capable of – before he teleported the two of them away.

* * *

_I hope you guys enjoyed this one shot!_

_Reviews are always appreciated._

_~Marwana_


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